1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for washing hands and, more particularly, to a splash-suppressing apparatus for washing hands that is especially suitable for surgical applications.
2. Background of the Invention
It is very important for physicians to have means for washing their hands in operating rooms and in their medical offices. Proper medical practice requires sterility; clean hands contribute to sterile conditions. Likewise, in the continual struggle to maintain sterility, it is frequently necessary to wash and/or rinse surgical and other medical equipment. In fact, many pieces of medical equipment have been designed with a view towards facilitating their cleaning, e.g., useless recesses and/or recesses difficult to access (except by bacteria) are wholly absent.
Hand and equipment washers purportedly especially suitable for medical environments have heretofore been developed. These prior art apparatus generally combine a sink including a container and various valves and fittings controlled by an operator's foot. Foot control eliminates direct operator contact with the hand-washer, which type of contact would carry a risk of contamination.
It is worth noting that the container portions of hand-washers are virtually never used to actually contain a liquid. In reality, the primary function of the container portion of the medical hand-washer is to protect an operator of the hand-washer from splashing liquids, e.g., water and/or detergent. In addition, because the container is never really used to contain liquid, container sealing means such as a plug are not required.
Notwithstanding the fact that there are prior art hand-washers purportedly especially suitable for medical applications and environments, there are a multitude of ways in which the prior art apparatus may be improved to make them even more suitable for medical applications.